Verse 1.1.34

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.34:

কদাচিদ্ অথ গোবিন্দো রামশ্ চাদ্ভুত-বিক্রমঃ বিজহ্রতুর্ বনে রাত্র্যাং মধ্য-গৌ ব্রজ-যোষিতাম্ ॥ ৩৪ ॥

कदाचिद् अथ गोविन्दो रामश् चाद्भुत-विक्रमः विजह्रतुर् वने रात्र्यां मध्य-गौ व्रज-योषिताम् ॥ ३४ ॥

kadācid atha govindo rāmaś cādbhuta-vikramaḥ vijahratur vane rātryāṃ madhya-gau vraja-yoṣitām || 34 ||

kadacid atha govindo ramas cadbhuta-vikramah vijahratur vane ratryam madhya-gau vraja-yositam (34)

English translation:

(34) Once Lord Govinda and Lord Rāma, the performers of wonderful feats, were playing Holi in the forest at night with the young girls of Vraja.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

After Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrated to Parīkṣit Mahārāja the Śiva- caturdaśī pastime of Kṛṣṇa’s liberating Nanda Mahārāja from the clutches of the snake, who was actually the Vidyādhara named Sudarśana, he described Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma’s Holi festival with the gopīs on the full moon evening. Beginning with the above verse, the author now quotes four verses from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.34.20-23) describing this pastime.

The word atha in this verse indicates after Śiva-rātri. The word kadācit refers to the night of Holi Pūrṇimā. The word rāma means “He who makes Kṛṣṇa enjoy.” It is therefore understood that since Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma had sported together since Their births, They enjoyed mutual feelings of friendship. The mood of friendship between Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma was particularly prominent in Vraja, while in Dvārakā Balarāma acted more in the role of an elder brother. In this verse the word ca is used with the desire to establish that Balarāma’s mood of being the elder brother is secondary. This mood is found in the observance of the Holi festival described in the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, Uttara- khaṇḍa, and in central India. The word vane refers to the subforests of

Vṛndāvana. This is the understanding from Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s Laghu- toṣaṇī.